Northern Minnesota holds 75% of the states wetlands, that’s why land owners work with wetland specialists when they are planning on building. They help limits the impacts made to wetlands when new projects pop up.

Curt Kleist is the owner of his own wetland service business, he’s been working in the outdoors for 20 years. “Every day is different, every project is a little different. So I always love the outdoors. I wish I was out here every day,” he says.

For the majority of his work, Kleist maps out the borders of wetlands on people’s properties which is a lot more work than you think. “We’ll look at the soils, we’ll do sample points on the soil, look at the trees and shrubs and the vegetation, also look for any standing water, high water table and saturation out on the site. [We’ll] kind of determine where that transition is and hopefully find some interesting plants.”

The surveys then help owners with environmental permits, resolve regulatory issues, and manage environmental programs for developments.

If you would like to learn more about Curt Kleist you can find his website here.